>and its you vs. course, with 10000000000 variables. > >tennis is you vs. other person, yes there are variables, but nothing >like golf. nothing.
And golf is nothing like tennis and the incredible level of athleticism and stamina that is needed to dominate the sport the way Federer has. It's amazing the way he can play someone that is at the top of their game and just have them so frustrated at not being able to find a way to get stuff by him. He really has an uncanny ability to seem to know where a shot is heading before they even hit it. His match against Roddick at the last U.S. Open was a prime example, it was just awesome to watch him quietly control that match even at the high level Andy played. I agree we'll have to see how he bounces back after this year (yes, he did have mono, among other minor issues, but refused to be hospitalized for it.) But I think one of the reasons he gets so much respect is because he dominates the game not so much because he is so gifted athletically beyond other players, but because he does train so much that he is technically proficient in all areas and has this great ability to just mentally dominate the match. In golf of course you are also competing against many players at the same time, rather than just one at a time, and yes, there are all the variables that come at you for every different course and conditions that day, etc. Tennis is quite a different challenge, but hardly one-dimensionally as you have to master so many aspects of the game, both offense and defense and be able to play against different styles of player and surfaces. You are also up against an opponent that can react and change their game on the fly as they find your weak spots...one of the things I find so interesting watching tennis is just watching the mind games that go on, seeing players trying to psych each other out and get any advantage they can. You'll see commentators questioning just about every action a player takes, from the noise they make on shots, taking medical timeouts, to the amount of ball bouncing before a server, squeaky shoes, the list goes on. One thing you have to appreciate with Roger, is he does it totally with him game play and leaves it at that. But overall, I'd probably agree that what Tiger has done is more incredible, in terms of the number of majors, including getting all the slams and the difficulty of mastering the game, and just the fact that is is not match play in the way tennis is (and where as a top player, you get the benefit of playing lower seeds). While you can recover from a slightly off day more easily in golf, there is still more luck in involved, simply from the more limited number of strokes and the vagaries of the course. Although Tiger himself has said that Roger is the more dominant player, I'm not sure I really believe that he truly thinks that. ;-) Quite simply though, Woods and Federer dominate each of their respective sports in ways that are rarely, if ever, seen and really we don't have in other popular pro sports right now. The argument of which dominates more is certainly one that is quite commonly batted around and I think one journalist hit it right on the head in that most Americans would said Tiger, because not only is he an American as well, but golf is simply a more well-known and watched sport here than tennis, and they understand the game and how tough it is to master. While most non-Americans would go for Roger, as golf is nowhere near as popular as tennis outside the US. I think Roger does really need a win at the French to really cement his reputation, but then even Sampras was never any good on clay and Roger has a string of seconds to his name at least...he just has had the bad luck of being up a really extraordinary clay player in Nadal. I think the next few years will really tell the tale as well as we are seeing some great new players coming up that will really be challenging him, at the same time that he will inevitably be slowing simply due to age and the punishing effects of the years of play. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:256615 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
